Zizek and Heidegger: The Question Concerning Techno-Capitalism

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iek and Heidegger offers a radical new interpretation of the work of Slavoj iek, one of the world's leading contemporary thinkers, through a study of his relationship with the work of Martin Heidegger. Thomas Brockelman argues that iek's oeuvre is largely a response to Heidegger's philosophy of finitude, an immanent critique of it which pulls it in the direction of revolutionary praxis. Brockelman also finds limitations in iek's relationship with Heidegger, specifically in his ambivalence about Heidegger's techno-phobia. Brockelman's critique of iek departs from this ambivalence - a fundamental tension in iek's work between a historicist critical theory of techno-capitalism and an anti-historicist theory of revolutionary change. In addition to clarifying what iek has to say about our world and about the possibility of radical change in it, iek and Heidegger explores the various ways in which this split at the center of his thought appears within it - in iek's views on history or on the relationship between the revolutionary leader and the proletariat or between the analyst and the analysand.

Reviews

"Through a highly innovative gesture, Brockelman introduces a unique way of reinterpreting the entirety of the iek's oeuvre through the lens of his under-explored rapport with Heidegger. The thought-provoking picture of iek that emerges from Brockelman's careful reading is of someone who takes up the challenge of "thinking the unthought" of Heidegger's treatments of finitude and technology in light of the contemporary dominance of global capitalism. Brockelman makes an important contribution to our understanding of iek." - Adrian Johnston, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, USA
"Brockelman's Zizek and Heidegger offers a sparkling new assessment of Slavoj Zizek's voluminous publications by way of their different stances on human finitude. This is the first book to bring the two authors together under this heading, and it sheds invaluable new light on both thinkers. An astute and insightful philosophicalanalysis throughout makes this a unique landmark text in the study of Zizek's challenging oeuvre: Brockelman's book is the most consistently and profoundly philosophical approach ever taken to the brilliant Slovenian thinker. In the process, it casts fresh light on the question of "techno-capitalism" as this emerges in Zizek's revision of Heidegger on technology." - Edward Casey, Distinguished Professor, SUNY at Stony Brook, USA, author of numerous books, including Getting Back into Place and The World at a Glance.
... makes a significant contribution to iek studies and deserves to be read by those who seek to better understand his work. -- The European Legacy, Vol. 16, No. 2

Author Bio

Thomas Brockelman is Professor of Philosophy at Le Moyne College, USA. His previous publications include The Frame and the Mirror: On Collage and the Postmodern (Northwestern University Press, 2001).